The first period of the game on Friday was scoreless, with the Ephs winning the majority of the face-offs and having better chances to score. Although the Cardinals tallied two early penalties, the Ephs failed to convert the penalties into goals.

Annie Rush ’19 was called for a tripping penalty 4:40 into the second period. The Ephs killed her penalty and used that momentum to score shortly after at 6:59. Sarah Lehman ’17, assisted by Michaela Levine ’16, deflected the puck off the board to get her first goal of the season.

Lehman got her second goal of the game after she slid the puck past the Cardinal goalie’s pad in the second period. She was again assisted by Levine, this time at 15:33 in the period.

In the third period, Natalie Bernstein ’16 took a penalty at 8:35 and the Cardinals capitalized with a goal at 8:50 by captain Ellery Sarosi. The puck went loose in the middle and Sarosi shot the puck past Eph goaltender, Christina Cleroux ’18. This was the Cardinals’ fifth power-play goal of the season.

The Ephs quickly answered with a power-play goal of their own at 11:23 when tri-captain Talia Simon ’16 scored an unassisted goal from the blue line just three minutes after the Cardinals closed the two-goal gap.

Wesleyan had another opportunity to try to equalize the game when Cici Frattasio took a penalty shot. However, her shot went over the crossbar as she tried to put the puck into the top right shelf. The score remained 3-1 for the remainder of the game to give the Ephs their second conference victory of the season.

On Saturday, the women defeated Wesleyan 3-0. The first period saw an absence of goals but both teams had good chances, testing the other team’s defensive lines and goalies. The period played evenly with equal time in both zones.

The Cardinals came off the first break with a lot of energy but the Ephs were able to ward off the attack. After both teams struggled to finish off any shots, Williams finally broke through with a goal at 9:53 in the second period. Simon assisted Kearan Burke ’18 with a shot from the point that Burke tipped in. The second period ended with Williams up 1-0.

The Ephs started the third period strong with an early goal at 3:38 by Levine. Levine skated through the neutral zone and into the Cardinals’ offensive zone; she beat out her defenseman and shot it past goaltender Laura Corcoran. Levine made it a three-goal game with her second goal of the game at 11:23 of the third period. The Ephs were on a two-on-one and Levine finished it off with a shot over the right shoulder of Corcoran.

The game finished 3-0, giving Eph netminder Cleroux her second shutout of the season, only letting in five goals in six games.

“We were really excited to get the four points this weekend,” tri-captain Eliza Noyes ’16 said. “There are no easy games in the NESCAC and it was the seniors’ first time sweeping Wesleyan. It’s great momentum to take into Utica this weekend.”

Over the Thanksgiving break, the Ephs took on Castleton State and Buffalo State. Castleton collected a 2-0 victory on Nov. 29, despite being out shot by the women 46-17. However, Williams walked away from the match against Buffalo State on Nov. 28 with a 5-0 win.

Earlier in November, the women opened their season by splitting games against NESCAC foe Hamilton.

On Nov. 20, the women opened the series against Hamilton with a 2-1 win. The Ephs capitalized on a key opportunity with a goal by Bernstein at 16:06 in the first period. Simon scored the winning goal at 14:42 of the third period, tipping it in from a pass off the blue line and bringing the women to their 2-1 lead that they would not relinquish.

The Nov. 21 match-up saw the Ephs fall to the Continentals 1-0.

The Ephs started the game strong, dominating on the attack and putting continual pressure on Hamilton keeper Samantha Walther. The Ephs killed three penalty kills and carried Burke’s slashing offense over to the second period. The period played evenly with the score set at a 0-0 tie. The Ephs kept pushing the first half of the second period, giving themselves plenty of opportunities in front of the opposing net, but none of the shots got through the Continental defensemen. The Continentals broke through a couple times but the Eph wall and goaltender were equally as resistant.

With the second goalless period coming to an end, the Ephs pulled Cleroux to add extra pressure. However, the score remained 0-0.

The third period started off just as close as the first two with both teams going back and forth with the puck. After both teams fought tirelessly, Hamilton finally pushed one through Williams’ defense at 14:30, as Megan Ahern scored, assisted by Mairead Carey, to defeat Williams 1-0.

The women will return to the ice at 3 p.m. on Saturday when they travel to play Utica in the Utica Memorial Auditorium.